📄 Sidebar: evidence admissibility — Thursday, July 20, 1995
Address:
C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\JUL\20\SIDEBAR-EVIDENCE-ADMISSIBILITY.DOC
TRIAL
▲ Day 119 of 167

Sidebar: evidence admissibility

Date: Thursday, July 20, 1995 • Utterances: 33
Defense attorney Cochran sought to question a witness about Andrea Mazzola's prior testimony establishing that the socks (items 15 and 16) were collected between 4:30 and 4:40 after the videographer had already left. Judge Ito repeatedly blocked Cochran's proposed questions as argumentative and foundationally improper, ultimately limiting him to asking only whether the witness was aware of or had discussed Mazzola's testimony.
1 THE COURT:

Side bar with the court reporter, please.

2 (The following proceedings were held at the bench:)
3 THE COURT:

Let's see. 13.

4 MR. COCHRAN:

Yes.

5 THE COURT:

Navy blue.

6 MR. COCHRAN:

The testimony is an offer of proof Mazzola testified, and Fung, that everything except for items 15 and 16 were picked up sequentially, sequentially in order. They wrote them down. The time was between 4:40--because they were picked up downstairs where the foyer is, 4:30, and then they went upstairs. They went upstairs together. And then item 14, your Honor, was picked up, the bloodstain, or something like that, in the bathroom, was picked up at 4:40. And it was between those times, I want to bring that out, and in fact I want to be able to show a video of Mazzola's testimony and also I can show you Fung's testimony. We have done this before. And I should be able to ask him whether or not--this is the issue of whether or not at this particular time, between 4:30 and 4:40--they have their testimony. They have already testified before the Court. This is nothing I'm making up. And this backs it up, because Peter Neufeld--I will show you the transcript. Peter Neufeld asked her sequentially--

7 THE COURT:

No, I am with you. How are you going to ask this witness?

8 MR. COCHRAN:

I'm going to ask him whether or not he was aware of this, that she also had testimony that between 4:30 and 4:40 these socks were picked up after he left. After he left, your Honor. I'm showing him the video if I have to.

KEY QUOTE
9 THE COURT:

I don't think that is a proper question.

10 MR. COCHRAN:

Why is that not a proper question?

11 THE COURT:

He has testified he hasn't talked to her, he hasn't discussed it with her and has no knowledge of what the testimony is.

12 MR. DARDEN:

And this is not his log, okay, and so we are giving this witness someone else's log.

13 MR. COCHRAN:

We have used these logs all the time. If he has seen this log--

14 THE COURT:

But Johnnie, wait a minute. Ask this guy are you aware of this testimony and to play it is to say--all it is is argument. That what it is. It is not a proper question at this time.

15 MR. COCHRAN:

Well, I respectfully disagree with that, your Honor. The Prosecution has done this all the time.

16 THE COURT:

Like what?

17 MR. COCHRAN:

Kelberg asked every witness, you know, what Dr. Lakshmanan said over here and so and so, but putting hypotheticals before the witness.

18 THE COURT:

Those are expert witnesses. This guy is not testifying as an expert.

19 MR. COCHRAN:

I think that this man says that they looked at TV, I think I should have a right, if he has ever seen the log--

20 THE COURT:

You can ask him if he has seen it.

21 MR. COCHRAN:

Thank you. I want to ask you then, if he has seen the log, then I can ask him based upon this log he saw some other log at the time?

22 MR. DARDEN:

I don't even think it is--I don't think Mr. Cochran is evenly acting in good faith to even show this witness a criminalist log. He is not a criminalist.

KEY QUOTE
23 THE COURT:

All right. I'm sustaining the initial objection that it is--what you are planning to do is argument at this point.

24 MR. COCHRAN:

Right.

25 THE COURT:

Because it is already in the record what Mazzola and Fung testified to. You can ask him if he has seen this log and knows.

26 MR. COCHRAN:

Guidance from the Court. Can I ask this man if he is aware--can I ask him these questions? Are you aware that Andrea Mazzola testified under oath that these socks were picked up between 4:30 and 4:40 and information was kept on the log sequentially except items 15 and 16, you know?

27 THE COURT:

You can ask him--you can ask him did you discuss this with Andrea Mazzola? Did you watch her testimony? Are you aware of her testimony? You can't lead into all the other things that she testified to without a foundation.

28 MR. DARDEN:

Okay. And he can't add into that times and things like that.

29 MR. SHAPIRO:

Can we have--may I confer for one second?

30 (Discussion held off the record between Defense counsel.)
31 MR. COCHRAN:

This possibility, your Honor. My learned colleague informs me that why can't we ask him to look at the testimony of Andrea Mazzola and ask him if she so testified would she be correct and would she be wrong? They have done this with other witnesses. If she testified and she picked these things up between 4:30 and 4:40 after he had left, after he had taken this video, would she be correct or would she be lying?

32 MR. DARDEN:

No, we have not. In fact, there were some rare attempts, I think on both sides, to introduce testimony that way and each time the objections were sustained. I mean, come on, we all went to law school. We know this is improper, your Honor.

33 THE COURT:

You can ask him if he is familiar with the log. You can ask him if he has discussed the testimony of Mazzola or if he is aware of her testimony, but without any other foundation I'm not going to let you go into any of this now.

Temperature

tense

Key Quotes (4)

Johnnie Cochran
I'm going to ask him whether or not he was aware of this, that she also had testimony that between 4:30 and 4:40 these socks were picked up after he left. After he left, your Honor.
Cochran is trying to use Mazzola's prior testimony to imply the socks were planted after the videographer departed — a central defense theory.
Christopher Darden
I don't even think it is--I don't think Mr. Cochran is evenly acting in good faith to even show this witness a criminalist log. He is not a criminalist.
Darden directly accuses Cochran of bad faith, a pointed personal attack at sidebar.
Lance A. Ito
Ask this guy are you aware of this testimony and to play it is to say--all it is is argument. That what it is. It is not a proper question at this time.
Ito cuts to the core of the ruling — the proposed question was closing argument dressed as examination.
Christopher Darden
I mean, come on, we all went to law school. We know this is improper, your Honor.
Darden appeals to shared professional norms to shut down Cochran's proposed line of questioning.

Evidence (3)

Informal
Criminalist log documenting sequential collection of evidence items, showing items 15 and 16 collected between 4:30 and 4:40
discussed — Cochran sought to show it to witness; Ito allowed only foundational questions about it
Informal
Video recording of Andrea Mazzola's prior testimony
proposed by Cochran for playback at sidebar; rejected as argumentative
Informal
Socks (items 15 and 16)
discussed in context of collection timeline — when they were picked up relative to videographer's departure

Notable Exchanges (3)

Johnnie CochranLance A. Ito
Cochran repeatedly reframed his proposed question to get around Ito's rulings, each time being rebuffed. Ito ultimately drew a clear line: the witness could be asked if he was aware of Mazzola's testimony, but Cochran could not front-load the substance of that testimony into the question.
strategic
Johnnie CochranChristopher Darden
Cochran argued the prosecution had used similar hypothetical questioning through Kelberg with expert witnesses. Darden rejected the analogy, noting this witness is not an expert, and then accused Cochran of bad faith.
heated
Robert ShapiroJohnnie Cochran
Shapiro requested a brief off-record defense huddle, after which Cochran returned with a new formulation: ask the witness whether Mazzola would be 'correct or lying.' Ito rejected this as well.
strategic

Credibility Attacks (1)

⚔ Andrea Mazzola
prior testimony / timeline contradiction
Cochran attempted to use Mazzola's own prior testimony — that socks were collected between 4:30 and 4:40 after the videographer left — to imply the evidence was planted or improperly handled.

Objections

2 objections (2 sustained, 0 overruled)
Proceeding 6967 • 33 utterances
Criminal Trial
Department 103
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📂 JUL 20, 1995 📄 Sidebar: evidence admissibilit
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